To highlight the cool things our alums do after taking part in the Cool Choices online sustainability program, we love to share stories from past participants. Our alumni always impress us by taking sustainable practices to the next level. Sara inspired us with her desire to make small, daily sustainable habits a way of life.
Sara’s Sustainability Story
Q. What green activities have you been up to since taking part in the Cool Choices program?
A. Cool Choices helped me to see a large variety of choices I can make to have a positive effect on the health of the environment. I think the biggest impact it had on me was to make thinking about sustainability a daily habit. I kind of miss logging in everyday and being a part of a community of like-minded individuals.
Q. Do you have any tips for others trying to be sustainable?
A. It’s not hard, anyone can do it! I think that was the other thing I learned: it doesn’t even take that much effort to be more sustainable. Little changes can make a huge difference over time.
Sara took part in the Cool Choices online sustainability game in 2016 with Outpost Natural Foods. Inspired by Sara’s sustainability story? Remember, you can make a difference too!
5 Sustainable Habits to Add to Your Daily Life
Sara’s right, little changes can make a huge difference over time. And collectively, all of our small actions can have a significant impact. Below are some some sustainable habits to add to your daily life from our employee engagement game that you can us to effect change:
- Turn off the water when you brush your teeth. Did you know that if the faucet runs for the entire two minutes it takes to brush your teeth, you will waste five gallons of water! This means turning off the water when you brush your teeth could save up to 310 gallons of water every month.
- Use reusable water bottles and to-go mugs. If you purchase one cup of coffee every day using your own reusable mug rather than the disposable cups provided at coffee shops, you will save about 23 pounds of waste each year.
- Cut back on meat consumption. Red meat, in particular, requires a lot of natural resources to produce. In fact, about 1,850 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of beef compared to just 39 gallons to produce a pound of veggies.
- Bring reusable bags to the store. Just one person switching from plastic to reusable bags would remove about 22,000 plastic bags from the environment.
- Use A/C when driving over 40 mph; turn off A/C and open windows when driving under 40 mph. Air conditioning can reduce mileage significantly, by as much as 20 percent. In fact, your air conditioner can consume up to one gallon of gas per tank to cool the vehicle! And driving with your windows open can produce aerodynamic drag, which reduces fuel economy. What’s a driver to do? When driving at slower speeds (less than 40 mph), open windows are better. At higher speeds (over 40 mph), close the windows and turn on the air conditioner – the AC uses less fuel.
Is your company, school, or community organization looking to drive sustainable change? Learn how our customizable corporate and community-scale sustainability programs can help your employees or members embrace sustainable actions, cuts energy costs decrease waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase employee engagement through a fun and social game-based web platform.
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